In line with the theme of the 62nd session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (12 – 23 March 2018), “Challenges and opportunities in achieving gender equality and the empowerment of rural women and girls” and in collaboration with the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC), UN Women brings to life stories of rural women from around the world, from Haiti and Canada to Iraq and Senegal to the pacific islands of Fiji. Produced largely by women producers, these stories, told in the first-person narrative, are currently being aired on local community radio stations.

RadioExpert is a not-for-profit public service organization founded in 2003 to organize and expedite the continuing activities in support of community media worldwide.

Marginalization of the Romani minorities of Central/Eastern Europe remains among the most difficult problems facing Europe today. The search for solutions must include empowerment of Roma people through education and access to media structures. Media literacy and skills training for Roma youth can provide an effective means for media literacy, collaboration, inclusion, access, education employment skills development and social cohesion.

The Roma Youth Media Project is a multi-year initiative to establish and maintain media training programs for Roma youth in Europe. RadioExpert's goals are to establish enabling environments for Roma youth radio in civil societies, and develop sustainable Roma youth radio, TV and film producers and moderators.

Founded in 2003, Just Vision is nonpartisan and religiously unaffiliated. They tell the under-documented stories of Palestinian and Israeli grassroots leaders who work to build a future of freedom, dignity and equality for all. Just Vision approach goes through award-winning films, digital media and targeted public education campaigns that undermine stereotypes, inspire commitment and galvanize action.

The Crossroads Project promotes alternative ways of resolving conflict leading to social cohesion, reconciliation and lasting peace among communities in Northern and North-Eastern Uganda.

Media Focus on Africa (MFA) designed and produced a 13-episode television and radio drama series – Yat Madit – based on real life experiences in the region. Yat Madit aimed to raise awareness about the plight of post war communities, influence public perceptions towards cultural diversity, and alleviate problems within communities. Sixty intercultural dialogues sessions which involved screening of the drama series were also held to diffuse social barriers and create fertile ground for collaborative problem solving using non-violent methods.

Yat Madit aired on national television, while translated episodes of the series were broadcast across four radio stations in Northern and North-Eastern Uganda. By the end of the dialogues, community members collectively identified their challenges and agreed on the best ways to address them. The project also increased awareness and knowledge on human rights, cultural rights, collaborative problem solving and cultural diversity. MFA aims to replicate this project in the Rwenzori region, another area of recent conflict with a history of cultural and ethnic disputes.

How can traditional know-how and knowledge contribute to tackle the issues of the modern world? RISE UBUNTU Network aims to connect with Indigenous groups from the North, South, East, West and the Diasporas. Their objective is about preserving and recovering endangered indigenous traditions and ecosystems, notably to bring solutions to contemporary challenges.

Post-Conflict Research Center, based in Bosnia and Herzegovina, creates programs to further the values of justice, peace, cross-cultural understanding, and reconciliation amongst today’s youth, who will shape the historical narratives of tomorrow. Working both locally and regionally, they carry out our youth-focused peace education initiatives with the goal of making sustainable peace a practical reality for young people and society as a whole. They are committed to engaging Balkan youth in programs that promote personal and intellectual growth through deepened understandings of division, conflict, conciliation and pluralism. Their educational programs build on the dissemination of historical memory and dialogue to prevent, mitigate, and transform conflict and post-conflict environments stemming from ethnic, religious and political identities.

The Indigenous Studies Portal (iPortal) is a database of full-text electronic resources such as articles, e-books, theses, government publications, videos, oral histories, and digitized archival documents and photographs. The iPortal content has a primary focus on Indigenous peoples of Canada with a secondary focus on North American materials and beyond. This initiative began in 2005 at the University of Saskatchewan as a resource for faculty, students, researchers, and members of the community and currently links to nearly 50,000 items.

'Fostering a grassroots movement of understanding, nonviolence, and transformation among Israelis and Palestinians.'

By encouraging direct contact and deep communication between local communities, ROOTS has seen transformation: stereotypes are replaced by an understanding of the other’s humanity, suffering, needs and roots. This greatly reduces fear and creates appreciation and support for each other. This groundwork of trust, safety and understanding is the foundation of any political solution. The transformation undergone by those who have engaged with Roots has led them from apathy and frustration to responsibility and involvement.

ROOTS runs dialogue groups at least once a week between members of local communities. Aware of the fact that there is great disagreement over many issues - over the facts of the past and the reality of the present; ROOTS has found that effective dialogue is the secure place for argument, and leads to deeper understanding. It is in this space that solutions can be built and actions can be developed.

United Religions Initiatives' Multiregion is home to grassroots interfaith peacebuilding groups around the world who come together virtually to collaborate, learn, and inspire. At the heart of United Religions Initiatives is a global network of locally organized “Cooperation Circles,” or CCs. Each CC is a grassroots, independently organized, self-governing and self-funded group comprised of at least seven members and representing at least 3 different religions, spiritual expressions or indigenous traditions. These Circles work in their own context to build cooperation among people of all faiths and traditions.

EcoPeace Middle East is a unique organization that brings together Jordanian, Palestinian, and Israeli environmentalists. Our primary objective is the promotion of cooperative efforts to protect our shared environmental heritage. In so doing, they seek to advance both sustainable regional development and the creation of necessary conditions for lasting peace in our region. EcoPeace has offices in Amman, Ramallah, and Tel-Aviv.